CHAPTER ELEVEN
A Cut Above
X was awoken by a beeping in his helmet. Sitting up with a groan, he tapped his communicator. "...X here."
"X!" came Alia's reply, shrill and painful to X's recovering auditory sensors. "You're alive! Oh, thank god... Where have you been? Your signal just disappeared and you've been gone for over a week and I thought you'd been killed or gone Maverick or were horribly injured and unable to contact me and don't you ever dare scare me like that again!"
"And what am I, scrap metal?" Zero asked, tapping his own communicator into the channel.
"Oh, Zero... you're okay too."
"Glad to know I'm missed," Zero said sardonically.
"I'm really sorry to have worried you, Alia," said X. "Believe me, if we could have contacted you, we would have. Has everything been okay while we were gone?"
"Uh... no."
"What? What happened?" X asked, concerned.
"Sigma's back," said Alia grimly.
"We've figured that out already, thanks," said Zero.
"How?" Alia asked, then changed her mind. "Never mind, just get back to HQ pronto. Signas isn't happy about you vanishing on the brink of a Maverick rebellion."
"He'd better get over it," said Zero. "It's not like he's out here getting his hands dirty."
"Zero!" Alia cried, winding up for a long lecture, but X cut her off.
"Alia, it's okay," he said. "We've had... a long week. We're heading back now."
"You'd better be. Stand by, I'll transfer your coordinates to the teleporter room."
-----
They solidified a few moments later in the teleportation room, the walls of blinking computer monitors coming cleanly back into focus. Behind his desk stood the same Reploid who had sent them off to Vile's lair, an irritated look on his face.
"Hey, Scotty! We're back!" Zero said, with a wry smile.
"No kiddin', doofus," Scotty grumbled.
Zero raised an eyebrow. "Man, what's got your circuits in a loop?"
"Freakin' Alia," Scotty muttered in reply.
"What about her?" X asked. "Is something the matter?"
"Oh, you bet something's the matter, Commander." Scotty spun around, furrowing his brow in annoyance. "You wanna know what happened?"
"Shoot," X said.
"That crazy broad went nuts on me when you up and disappeared!" Scotty exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air. "I thought she was gonna tear my freakin' face off! Do you know how long it took me to get her to calm down? And then she was thinkin' it was somehow my fault the instruments couldn't pick you guys up! Sure, I mean... I spilled Coke on that transmitter once, but that was a long time ago!"
Rock had to stifle a giggle as the transporter operator got deeper and deeper into his rant, accompanying his words with violent hand gestures. "Man, it was like she was gonna punch her fist through my chest and pull out my power generator and eat it or somethin'! And then after that, she's been calling me like, every hour on the damn hour to see if your signal was back up, even though she could monitor it from the control room. I swear, that lady's just plain nuts!"
X's face paled. "Did she really do all of that?"
"Pretty much," Scotty replied. "I mean, I exaggerated some here and there, but seriously, X. You'd think that crazy broad was your wife or something! Jeez!"
Zero smirked and shot X a look he chose to ignore.
Scotty shook his head. "Seriously man, get up there and show her that you and Zero are okay. I don't need another call interruptin' my work!"
"And by work, you mean that pinball game you've been addicted to," Zero said, folding his arms.
"That is flagrantly false and I will deny it up and down if you tell his Lord and Master Signas," Scotty replied, with a regal tone. "Now, get going. I'm still tryin' to get the high score. I don't need you idiots here distractin' me." The reploid turned back to his console.
X rolled his eyes at Zero, then motioned for the group to follow him. They stepped off the transporter pad, and headed for the door.
No sooner had they entered the hallway when Alia appeared, barreling around the corner at high speed. "X!" she said, halting in front of them. "Good, you made it. Hurry downstairs, I think Signas is going to blow a gasket if you don't come soon."
"Thanks, Alia," said X.
Alia's expression softened. "I'm sorry to push you, X, but... it is important. You've been missing for so long and everyone is worried. I'd rather not see you two demoted..."
Zero snorted. "He doesn't have the guts to do that to the heroes of eight Maverick wars, Allie."
"Don't call me that," Alia snapped, and Zero smirked.
"Alia has a point, Zero," X said. "I'd rather not test him. And we have been gone for too long."
"It wasn't your fault, though," Rock said. Alia turned and finally noticed the three guests following in their wake.
"Hey, X... why are these three still with you? Could they not recover their device?"
"No, they did," X said. "It's kind of related to where we've been the past week and a half..."
"I suppose we'd better explain everything to Signas," Zero said, glancing at the three robots for their permission. Blues nodded.
"It'd better be a good story," said Alia, as they stepped into the elevator.
"It is," said X, "Though I somehow get the idea he won't believe it."
"What do you mean?"
"Just... come along and hear for yourself, Allie," said Zero.
"...Alright," she replied. "And I said, don't call me that."
The elevator continued its descent, towards the fortified basement and the central control room.
X glanced over at Alia. "Hey, Alia, what's this we heard about you heckling poor Scotty?"
The navigator snorted. "Poor Scotty nothing. That idiot spends more time goofing off than doing his job."
"You know that's not true," X said, smiling at her. "Did you really think we were in trouble?"
"Well... yes!" she said. "You've never disappeared for so long before... Just because you're Mega Man X doesn't mean you're immortal, you know!"
"Yes, but he has the great Zero along," Zero said, throwing an arm around X's shoulders. "Everyone's immortal compared with me!"
"...Yes, I suppose you're right," Alia sighed.
"Alia," X said gently, pushing Zero's arm away. "We know what we're doing, and the risks involved. You don't need to run yourself frantic over us."
"I'm your navigator," Alia said stubbornly. "It's my responsibility to keep you two out of trouble."
"Sounds like your concern for X was going beyond simple professionalism, though," Zero said, with a devilish smirk.
"Oh, shut up, you," Alia snapped, folding her arms and turning away. Rock thought he saw the trace of red on her cheeks. "You're my friends, I'm entitled to worry."
"And you seemed so worried about me when we first called in today."
"Zero, be quiet!"
The argument was cut short as the elevator doors opened and the group stepped out into the central control room. It was a wide, open space, framing a large viewscreen. A bank of computers faced the screen, with more around the periphery of the room. Many Hunters moved about, performing various tasks.
Near the center of the room, beside a smaller viewscreen, was a massive reploid. He was easily as tall as Sigma, dressed in black military-style armor. Green crystals on the front of his armor gave the impression of officer's buttons. Axl stood beside him, surveying images on the screen.
"Hey, Signas!" Zero called, as they approached. The large reploid looked up, along with many others in the room. Most of the Hunters seemed relieved at seeing the two Commanders returning.
"Zero! X!" said Axl happily, as the group halted in front of him. "Where the heck have you been!"
"Nice of you to finally join us," Signas said dryly. "Were you having a nice, week-long hoverbike ride in the country?"
"It's a bit more complicated than that, I'm afraid," said X.
"Anyway, your explanation can wait," Signas said, returning to the viewscreen. "We have a bit of a problem on our hands, as Alia has no doubt told you."
"Yeah, Sigma's back," Zero said. "We're well aware of it."
"Zero's right," said X. "We fought with Sigma before our radio contact was broken."
"Then you are also aware," said Signas, "that within the past week and a half while you were vacationing, he has managed to assemble a new army?"
"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me," said Zero.
"Yeah, but this army is... different," said Axl.
"He's predictably reassembled a team of mechaniloids and minor Mavericks, but he also has a batch of entirely new generals," said Signas. "I'll show you."
He moved to the computer and pulled up some images on the viewscreen. They were grainy images, probably from some security camera, but the subjects were distinct enough.
"Crap," said Bass.
"Robot masters!" said Rock, staring at the screen. Sure enough, there was the familiar scissors of Cut Man, as well as more shadowy shapes that he couldn't identify but knew must belong to more of the robots.
"Why the heck did he rebuild Cut Man?" Blues wondered.
Signas turned, finally, noticing the three robots tagging along with the Hunters. "X, Zero, who are these three? Civilians shouldn't be in the war room!"
"They're a part of the long story we mentioned earlier, Signas," said X.
"And they're far from being civilians," Zero added.
"They're... unique," said X, carefully. "And much more than they appear."
"Well?" Signas asked, impatient with his Hunters' ambiguous statements. "Who are they?"
"...I think we'd best find someplace to sit down, first," said X. "It'll take a while..."
"I suppose we could reconvene in my office, then," said Signas. "But you'd better have a damn good explanation for this, X, Zero..."
---
A short while later, the group assembled in Signas' office. It was a moderately spacious room, with a long, flat holographic window currently giving a view of the front lawn. A comfortable leather couch and several chairs circled a desk, extra large to accommodate the general's tall frame. Everyone settled themselves into seats, with Bass, Rock, and Blues on the couch (Bass scooted as far away from the other two as possible), Alia, X, and Axl in chairs, and Zero lounging nonchalantly against the wall behind X.
"Well, now that we're all settled," Signas said, resting his chin on his hands. "Let's hear your story. I'm tired of wasting time."
"Time is exactly the point," said Zero.
"Don't play games, Zero," Signas said, frowning at the crimson Hunter.
"Well, to be blunt," said X, seeing that his commanding officer, and the others in the room, would not be tolerant of more delays. He waved his hand towards the trio on the couch. "These three... are time-travelers."
There was utter silence in the room. Everyone turned to stare at the three robots, who looked rather uncomfortable under the scrutiny.
"...What?" asked Signas, finally.
"That's impossible," said Alia.
"According to current scientific theory," said X.
"The temporal theory is nearly a law, X," said Signas, his eyebrows furrowed. "There should be no way to interfere with it."
"And we're telling you that these three came from a different time," Zero said, folding his arms.
"Fine, I'll bite." Signas pointed to Rock. "You, the blue one! What is your name, and where do you come from?"
"My name is Mega Man, sir," said Rock, trying to ignore the startled reactions that pronouncement brought. "You can call me Rock, though. I come from 20XX."
"...Cute," said Signas, obviously still skeptical. "So this little blue robot thinks he's your predecessor, or something, X?"
"Yes, actually," said X, firmly.
"And how do you know they're telling the truth?" Axl asked, frowning at Rock.
"No offense, X, but this is hard to swallow," Alia agreed.
"...We met Dr. Light," X said softly.
Signas stared at him. "X, when was the last time you recharged?"
"Damn it, Signas, he's not joking with you!" Zero exploded, tired of the whole situation. He pushed himself off of the wall and stood gripping the back of X's chair with both hands. "We met Dr. Light in the past. That's why our signals vanished—we were a hundred years before this time. These three are Mega Man, Proto Man, and Bass." He pointed to each. "Mega Man is X's predecessor. And Proto Man, the red one, is the first sentient humanoid robot ever built."
The room was silent again, staring at Zero this time.
"...Is this true, X?" said Alia, finally.
"Yes."
"You can examine me, if you want proof," said Rock, hesitantly. "Just... no disassembling."
"That won't be necessary," said Signas, but he still looked unconvinced.
"You want proof, then?" said Bass. "We know who's helping Sigma, It's a guy named Dr. Wily. He comes from our time!"
"Wily?" Axl asked.
"I've heard that name before," mused Signas.
"You believe?" asked Blues, finally speaking up. "It's only been a hundred years... how could a madman like Wily possibly be forgotten?"
"What do you mean?" Alia said.
"Well, he only tried to take over the world eight or nine times..."
"Where have I heard that before...?" Axl sighed.
"You'll have to forgive us," Signas said. "Both humanity and reploidkind have been through a lot this past century... and record keeping is not what it should be."
"Well, what happened then?" Bass asked.
The Hunters looked at one another, unsure. X glanced up at Zero, who shrugged.
"...I suppose time is messed up enough already," he said. "Go ahead and tell them, X..."
X sighed, but nodded. "Somewhere around... it's been a full century, by now... there was a great event, which we call 'The Cataclysm'. No one is certain who started it, or how it came about, but when the dust settled, most of the human and animal population of the planet had been annihilated."
The three past robots could only listen, horrified, as the blue Hunter continued. "Most historical records were lost in the devastation, as well, with the period just before the Cataclysm suffering the most. Only a handful of scholars really have a working knowledge of the pre-Cataclysmic past, now. Reploids and humans are far too concerned with their present..."
"...This future sucks!" Bass said finally, summing up Rock and Blues' feelings with perhaps a little more vehemence. "We're dead, the whole planet's dead, some bald weirdo keeps tryin' to take over what's left of the world, and no one even remembers us?"
"Somehow, I wonder if you and Wily had a hand in causing this 'cataclysm', Bass..." Blues remarked.
"Hey, shut up!" Bass snapped. "Wily's never wanted to destroy the world, just take it over! At least, until now..."
"Calm down, you two," Rock interceded. "We don't even know what or who caused it... and Bass is right. Wily may be evil, but his whole ambition is to rule the world, not destroy it."
"Excuse me," said Signas, "but this Wily... he is human, correct?"
"Yeah, why?" said Bass.
"And you said Sigma's allied with him?" Axl asked.
"It appears so," Blues said.
"...Why would Sigma work with a human?" Signas asked.
"We have no idea," said X, shaking his head. "And that is what's even more unsettling about this scenario."
"Regardless of the reason," Zero said, "We've got two allied evil geniuses bent on world domination, with a time machine at their disposal."
"Well, needless to say, we can't allow Sigma to win, time travel or no time travel," said Signas, straightening and assuming a more authoritative tone. "X... Zero... I must ask you to aid us in defeating him once again."
"Of course," said X.
"It's our job, anyway," said Zero, shrugging.
"...What about us?" Rock asked.
Bass nodded. "Yeah. If you think we're going to sit out like chumps, forget it."
Signas paused. "Maverick Hunter regulations require that all civilians be kept out of combat situations—"
"Stick it, you," Bass interrupted, glaring at the general. "I've got as much fight in me as X or Zero. They've seen it. I can handle myself in battle better than most of your Maverick Hunters."
"Bass!" said Rock, alarmed at Bass' disrespect.
"Don't look at me that way," the black robot replied. "I'm not going to put up with him pushing me around when he has no authority to..."
"Bass, we're guests here. Attempt to be polite," Blues sighed. "But I agree with you. And I'm sure Rock does too."
Rock gave Bass another disapproving look, but nodded. "Signas? All of Sigma's new generals... we've fought them before, in our time. We know their strengths and weaknesses. Please, let us help you."
Signas cleared his throat, and the protests died away. "—As I was saying," he said, folding his hands on the desk before him, "Considering you three technically do not exist... I have no power to tell you to do anything."
"All right!" said Zero.
"Thanks, Signas," said X.
"Technically, you have nothing to thank me for," said Signas.
"...Just like this conversation technically never happened?" Alia asked.
"Exactly," said Signas, nodding. "Time travel does not exist. Sigma has not allied himself with a villain from the past. We certainly are not speaking with the first robots ever created, and it is a great honor to not do so, I may add."
"The pleasure isn't ours," said Blues, with his trademark mysterious smirk.
"Most definitely not," Rock agreed.
"Okay, could you guys stop that?" asked Bass. "I'm getting confused."
"No problem, Bass!"
"...Wait, does that mean you're going to stop or not?"
The rest of the assembled group broke into laughter at Bass' predicament. The black robot sunk further into the couch cushions, folding his arms and scowling.
"All joking aside," said Signas, cutting smoothly into the exchange, "it is imperative you stop Sigma and whoever may be helping him as soon as possible, X."
"We'll do our best, sir," said X. "Do you have any information on where he is operating?
Signas frowned. "...He appears to have moved into a... large, skull shaped castle to the north of the city. It is... very odd. It most certainly wasn't there last week..."
"...Typical," Blues sighed.
Rock groaned. "I hope there aren't spikes... those suck."
"Oh, there will be," X assured him darkly.
"There always are. Why can't Wily build a normal fortress like everyone else!"
"Normal people don't build fortresses, Rock..." said Blues.
"Dr. Cossack was supposed to be pretty normal, and he built a fortress."
"With spikes in it. And it was because Wily kidnapped his daughter. And roboticists aren't exactly ordinary citizens, anyway."
"Well, what's to stop Father from building a fortress, then?" said Rock, throwing up his hands. "Complete with spikes, bottomless pits, and a stupid flying dragon boss or one of those Yellow Devils!"
Blues put a hand to his temple. "...Do you listen to yourself when you talk?"
"Obviously not," said Rock.
Bass rolled his eyes. "Well, if Dr. Light did build a fortress like that, Wily wouldn't have to build one himself because you'd never get out of your own house to attack him!"
"Bass, don't encourage him," Blues sighed.
"...Wow, come to think of it, getting a midnight snack would become excessively difficult..." Rock mused.
"Mega Man, I seriously doubt you have to worry about it."
"And we'd probably get Mets living in the pantry... Roll wouldn't be thrilled."
"I'd imagine not," Blues said firmly. "Now, can we worry about this later? I'd like to clean up the mess Wily's made before we become obsolete." Bass looked at him, and he continued smoothly, "Smart remarks out of anyone will not be appreciated."
"Ooh, so does that mean they will be appreciated, then?" Rock asked.
"Agh! I hate you, Mega Man!" Bass growled.
Rock smiled cheerfully at him. "I'm not glad you feel that way."
"X, are all robots in the past this... unique?" asked Signas, watching the exchange with a combination of amusement and confusion.
"...Yeah, pretty much," X replied.
"I'll kill you!"
"Aww, thanks, Bass. You're my best friend, too."
"Aaaagh!"
"...I cannot believe I'm related to them..." X said, dropping his head into his hands.
Zero patted him on the shoulder. "I feel for ya, buddy."
Suddenly, a beeping noise echoed through the room. "What was that?" Blues asked, looking around.
"There's an incoming message from one of our scouting units," said Alia, touching her headset and looking at Signas. "It's for you, sir."
"Patch it through," Signas replied.
Alia nodded and relayed the information into the headset. A moment later, the viewscreen shifted from being a window to showing several boxes filled with scrolling data, and a voice emanated from the speakers, "Sir! This is Darre of the 22nd patrol squad... We've encountered Maverick units on the outskirts of the city."
"Where are you?" Signas asked.
"Sector B-34, sir. They're, uh... attacking a hair salon."
"...A hair salon."
"Yes, sir."
Signas sighed. "Mavericks... I don't think I'll ever understand them..."
"You wouldn't want to," said Alia. "The nature of the virus usually makes them insane."
"I don't think Signas was serious, Alia," said Zero.
"Does that really matter right now?" said X, standing up and walking closer to the microphone on Signas' desk. "Soldier! Do you have a visual on the Mavericks?"
"Commander X? Yes, sir," the reploid replied. The screen changed to a grainy still image of the front of a hair salon, with several Mavericks approaching.
"Great..." X said, looking at the screen.
"That... looks like Cut Man," said Rock, pointing to one of the images
"Figures he'd attack a hair salon," Bass said, folding his arms.
"Don't worry, Darre," said X to the reploid on the comm. "We'll be down there in a few minutes. Hold them down until they arrive."
"Yes sir," the man replied, and the channel closed.
X rubbed his temples and turned to Alia. "Where is my unit at the moment?"
"Both the 17th and the 0th are on patrol in Eastern Europe," Alia replied. "There's a bad Maverick uprising over there."
"What about other units?"
"They're all deployed at the moment..."
"Great," X sighed. "Well, we should be able to handle this ourselves. It's nothing I haven't done before."
"Great!" said Axl. "Let's get going!"
"Axl, aren't you supposed to be reporting back to the 0th?" Alia asked. "You got everything you needed."
"Yeah, what are you doing here anyway, kid?" Zero asked, staring at him. Axl gave him a nervous grin. "You're supposed to be keeping an eye on the rest of those hooligans in my unit!"
"It's really saying something when Axl's the most level-headed in a group." X said.
"I'm not that bad, X!" Axl defended.
"Then go get back to work!" Zero ordered.
Axl snapped to attention, giving Zero a smart salute. "Yes, sir, Commander Zero!" he said, with just the slightest trace of sarcasm. He then bolted from the room before anyone else decided to reprimand him.
"That boy..." X said, putting a hand to his temple.
"He's a good kid, X," Zero said. "Don't be so hard on him. He does his best, and that's better than a lot of the slackers we're calling Hunters these days..."
Signas cleared his throat. "However, all the other Hunters have been working hard for the past week."
"Hey, it's not our fault we weren't here!" Zero said.
"I know, Zero, but the fact remains that while we are talking here, that Maverick continues to do damage. Get moving, all of you."
"Yes, sir, General Signas!" said Zero, with a tone similar to Axl's.
X rolled his eyes at his friend, and stood up. "We'll take care of it, sir," he assured the general. Motioning for the others to follow, he headed out the door.
-----
Five streams of light descended from the heavens, taking shape just above the ground. Plasma fire was immediately audible from the area, and weapons were formed and drawn as soon as the group landed. They approached the salon, which was being guarded by a small detachment of Hunters. The scouting party looked relieved on seeing X and Zero.
"Commanders!" said the reploid who had called HQ. He was crouched behind an overturned car, as stray plasma bolts from the Mavericks inside the building whistled over his head.
"What's the situation?" X asked, as they approached and joined him behind the car.
"The Mavericks and their General are holed up inside," the man replied. "We've been reluctant to storm the building because we don't know how many there are inside."
"Any hostages?"
"Not that we know of. The business was apparently closed."
"We'll take it from here," X told him. Motioning to the others, he began moving towards the building, sniping Mavericks that showed themselves in the windows.
-------
Inside, the General paced the length of the room, his scissors clacking together angrily. This whole assignment was a joke. There was absolutely no purpose in securing this building. Yet, here he was, because that bald jerk and his bucket-headed goon thought his appearance was amusing. Cut Man was not used to this sort of humiliation. The memories provided by his old control chip showed that before, he'd taken orders from Wily directly. These new middlemen made him irritated... an odd sensation, really. Cut Man frowned. These were his orders, why was he questioning them?
He shook his head. This may be pointless, but Wily must have a plan, even if it was just to use him as a distraction... That thought irritated him as well, which only made him more confused.
But there was no more time for thinking when explosions blasted down the door. Cut Man reflexively tossed his scissors at the first figure to enter the door. The man narrowly dodged, the sharp metal grazing past his elbow. It left a dark red gash.
X ignored the wound and fired his charged buster. The plasma struck the generator of one of Cut Man's Maverick subordinates. The reploid exploded, taking another of his comrades with him.
Cut Man caught the returning scissors and returned them to his head, dodging away from another charged shot. He landed on a file cabinet and tensed as the rest of the party burst through the door.
"Hey, Cut Man!" Mega Man called, training his buster on the red and white robot master. "Long time, no see!"
"...Mega Man?" Cut Man asked, frowning at the blue robot. "Dr. Wily said you wouldn't show up!"
"He's less astute than I thought," said Proto Man, his shield hanging loosely on his arm.
"Funny, I was under the impression that the old coot never created anything useful besides me and Treble," Bass drawled, folding his arms.
"Meaning?"
"I'm saying Wily's never been smart, scarf boy."
"He builds self-aware robots for a living, Bass," Blues replied.
"And there's a difference between intelligence and sense, Proto Man."
"Well, if it isn't Bass," said Cut Man, looking at the black and yellow robot. "Dr. Wily's so-called 'greatest creation.' I have a way of dealing with turncoats..."
"Turncoat?" Bass growled. "Wily tried to kill me!"
"...What?"
"Or didn't he tell you?" Bass asked, noting the confusion. "I suppose he wouldn't have... It wouldn't inspire much confidence in his robots if they knew they could get tossed out for being loyal."
"You're talking nonsense, traitor," Cut Man snapped. "Now, it's time to make friends with my secret weapon!"
"The Rolling Cutter?" Rock asked innocently.
"...Shut up!"
"Doesn't look like Wily spent too much extra time on him." Blues remarked. The robot master glared at him. His oddly shaped face didn't help him look threatening.
"He does seem to have present-era technology in him, though," X said, his eyes glowing neon green as he scanned the robot master's specifications. "His systems register as a reploid's."
"That's right," Cut Man said proudly. "Dr. Wily has blessed me with better artificial intelligence. I am now smarter than any Robot Master has ever been! And I've used my newfound abilities to study your weaknesses, Mega Man. You cannot best me now."
"Looks like he has reinforced armor, too," said X, his eyes returning to their normal hue. "He's probably tougher than he seems."
"He's got scissors on his head," Zero said, dismissively. "Let's just beat the heck out of him. It'll be fun."
"I agree!" said Bass.
"Let's just get this over with," said Blues, raising his shield.
"Prepare yourselves!" said Cut Man, and tossed the Rolling Cutter.
Mega Man dodged quickly, and the cutter grazed harmlessly past, then swung back around to its thrower. The Rolling Cutter seemed to move faster than Rock remembered, but he ignored it and began charging his weapon.
Cut Man caught his scissors smoothly and leapt behind a shelf of hair supplies. There was no clear shot, but X and Zero both tried to flank from the left to see if they could get the drop on their foe. Rock watched them carefully circle around, but before they could attack, the Rolling Cutter lashed out. It grazed past Zero's shoulder armor, putting a dent in it, but not slowing his charge. Cut Man leapt over the approaching Zero, grabbed his Rolling Cutter as it returned and turned toward Bass and Mega Man.
Rock released a charged blast at the Robot Master, but Cut Man was swift enough to strafe to the side. However, he was not fast enough to dodge Bass's follow up. The blast caught Cut Man in the leg. He tripped, but as he hit the ground, he rolled forward and rose again. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the Rolling Cutter at Mega Man.
The blue robot easily ducked underneath the incoming attack and it flitted back harmlessly. Cut Man caught the blade and immediately sent it after Proto Man, who like his brother, easily dodged the predictable attack. He countered with a quick snap shot from his buster, which the robot master narrowly dodged.
Zero lunged in this time and swung his Z-Saber hard toward Cut Man, but the Robot Master slipped away from the swing with a quick jump backward. Zero pressed the attack, and this time he managed to strike Cut Man on the arm. The Robot Master winced in pain and pulled away.
The Saber hadn't penetrated the armor, but it had badly melted the outer casing. Rock saw an opportunity as Cut Man prepared to throw his Cutter again, and opened fire in conjunction with X. The two shots flew toward the Robot Master in a cross formation, and he was unable to avoid getting hit. Figuring Rock's blow would hurt less, he moved to avoid X's blast and was struck squarely by Mega Man's, sending him to the ground. He was knocked senseless for a moment; when he regained himself, he looked up, only to see Mega Man's buster trained on his head.
"I win again!" Rock cheered.
"It's not possible," Cut Man growled weakly, sparks dancing from the graze on his leg. "How do you constantly manage to defeat me?"
"'Cause Rock always beats scissors!" Rock replied.
X groaned at the horrible pun, and Blues said, "I thought I'd revoked your talking rights."
"And now, Rock has scissors!" Rock said, reaching down and touching a hand to Cut Man's forehead. He jumped back again as the robot master tried to snip off his arm, but the weapons data had already been acquired. Rock's armor turned grey.
"Grr... you haven't seen the last of me!" Cut Man proclaimed, then with a swift kick of his good leg, knocked Rock out of his way and darted towards the door. Rock fired a Rolling Cutter at his back, but the scissors glanced harmlessly off the doorframe and the robot master disappeared outside.
"Darn..." Rock sighed. He lowered his buster and returned to his normal color scheme.
Zero looked impressed. "Hey, so you can do that nifty weapon-stealing thing like X, huh?"
"It's not stealing, Zero," X muttered.
"You bet!" Rock said cheerfully. "I'll bet Father installed the same system in X as he did in me. D'you all want the data?"
Zero shook his head. "I can't really use it."
"...Guess scissors are better than nothing," Bass sighed, and pressed his palm to Rock's so the little robot could transfer the weapons data.
"I don't know if I'm compatible, but we can try," said X, shrugging. It did work, however, and X tested out his new weapon appreciatively. "Simple, but effective," he said, recalling his buster and returning to his normal color scheme.
"What about you, Blues?" Rock asked, turning to the older robot.
"...I'll take it too," he replied.
"You know," Rock said, as he transferred the information, "I've always wondered, why do you even have a weapons data acquisition system? I didn't get mine until Father converted me into a fighting robot..."
"Ah, well, that's a secret," Blues said, giving Rock his half-smile.
Bass folded his arms. "You swiped the schematics and built one for yourself, didn't you?"
"...You can't prove anything."
"You... built it yourself?" Rock said, his eyes widening. "And installed it? I didn't know you could do anything like that."
Blues shrugged. "It's difficult to be a rogue robot roaming the world without knowing about your own systems."
"But... modifying yourself?" said Zero. "That's kind of creepy..."
"It's not like I'm messing with my core programming or anything," Blues said, forming his buster and examining it. "It'd be kind of hard to perform neurosurgery on myself."
"Still, I didn't know you were a mechanic, Blues," said Rock. "I'm impressed. I know I couldn't do anything like that."
"You pick up a few things when you travel," Blues said, shrugging again.
"Well... what next?" Zero asked, looking around the room.
X was about to answer, but he was interrupted by a beeping from inside his helmet. "It's Alia," he said, raising his hand to his communicator.
"Like always," said Zero.
"Shut up, Zero," said X. "Hold on, you three," he said to Rock, Blues, and Bass. He tapped his communicator and began to speak, Zero tapping in as well. "X here. Go ahead, Alia."
"Our scouts say the Mavericks are retreating," her voice came back into his helmet. "Are all of you okay?"
"Yeah, everything's fine," X replied.
"Good," Alia said. "What exactly was that Maverick after?"
"Um... we... forgot to ask," X admitted.
Alia sighed in a burst of static. "X, what are we going to do with you?"
"Since when do we ask a Maverick what they were doing?" Zero wondered, cutting into the conversation.
"Regardless... X, you should stay there and investigate. But don't take too long... we need you back here soon."
"We... right," said Zero.
"Zero!" X snapped, and the blonde Hunter grinned at him.
"I'm breaking contact before Zero decides to be any more of a smart aleck. Good luck, guys." The channel went dead.
"So what's up?" Bass asked.
"We need to look around and see if we can find out what Cut Man was up to here," said X.
"Where do we start looking, then?" Rock asked.
"We don't," said Zero, rolling his eyes. "It's a hair salon. Cut Man was probably looking for a new model of scissors to put on his head."
"You can stay here if you want," X said, heading for the doorway in the back. "I'm going to have a look around anyway." He left the room.
"He's sure devoted to his duty," Blues remarked.
"Nah, it's because Alia asked him to," said Zero.
"Why would that matter?" Bass asked. "He outranks her, doesn't he?"
Blues looked from Bass to Zero, then turned to Rock. "Rock, go and help our little brother," he said.
The boy gave him a mock salute. "Yes sir!" He ran off after X.
"Now then, Zero," said Blues, turning back to the blonde reploid. "Continue."
"What are you talking about?" asked Bass.
"Maybe he should go and help, too," said Zero.
"Good idea," said Blues.
Bass frowned. "Not before you tell me what this is about."
"Trust me," said Blues, steering the black armored robot towards the back room. "It's nothing you'd be interested in. Just give X a hand."
"Fine," Bass conceded. "But don't think this is over, Proto Man."
The elder bot watched until Bass had disappeared from sight and earshot, then turned back to Zero. He smoothed out his scarf reflexively. "Now then, what's with Alia? You seem to enjoy poking fun at her."
"Not her," Zero explained. "Her and X."
"I thought as much," Blues said, with the faintest hint of a smile. "How long has this been going on?"
"For a few years," Zero said, thinking back. "Since the sixth war, it's really been noticeable... after she got over X having to beat up her ex-boyfriend and everything."
"Uh..."
"It was pretty funny, actually," Zero said, shrugging.
Blues gave him an odd look. "I'm sure it was."
Zero laughed. "It's a long story... but things were resolved in the end. And they had parted amicably long before that, anyway, so that really wasn't the issue... but I digress." He shook his head. "Anyway, like I said, she started being rather obvious after that."
"So... she likes X... and does he like her back?"
"Yup," said Zero, smirking.
"But he's being a clueless idiot and refuses to admit it to her."
"Yup," Zero affirmed. "He denies it, but I catch him daydreaming all the time. He's fallen for her bad but he's too dense to see she's fallen as well."
"He's more like Rock than I thought, then," said Blues, with a small smirk. "So... now that I know this, are you hoping I'll join in with the merciless teasing?"
"That was the plan."
"I'll think about it."
Zero shrugged and grinned. "Well, we've got all the time in the world, eh?"
"That was just painful."
Footsteps halted their conversation, and the others reentered the room. "We didn't find anything," Rock reported, as he moved to stand beside Blues.
"Yeah, it doesn't even look like anything was stolen," X agreed.
"They're Mavericks," Zero said. "Do they need a reason to attack things?"
"He's a robot master too," said Rock. "That doesn't help his case, either."
Bass folded his arms and leaned against a counter. "Let's just get out of here. I'm bored."
"You're always bored," Blues observed.
"So?"
"All right, then," X said, tapping into his communicator. "Alia? We're ready to head home."
"Roger that, X," she replied, and the transport initiated.